Red flag, tire choice, and restart

The decision

Race control has three rain calls to make, and each one runs on a clock. Throw the caution or the red flag before the surface turns. Tell teams whether wet tires will be needed at the next stop. Decide when the track is dry enough to restart, and whether the schedule, the broadcast window, and the curfew still hold.

Each call is made in minutes, with cars on track and a crowd in the stands. A forecast that says “60% chance of showers this afternoon” does not help. The question is whether rain reaches this track in the next 20 minutes, how hard it falls, and when it stops.

What Odeai gives race control

Odeai forecasts rain rate over the circuit and the area around it, in 10-minute steps, for the next three hours. A new forecast arrives every 10 minutes, so the picture follows the storm as it develops rather than as it was at the last model run.

• Onset: when rain is expected to start at the venue, and how quickly it builds.
• Intensity: whether a cell brings a light shower or rain at 10 mm/h and more.
• Clearance: when the rain is expected to end, which sets the earliest realistic restart.

Proof before commitment

Send us a past race date and venue. We can replay the forecast Odeai would have issued that day, frame by frame, against what actually fell.